Four Days in Lisbon: What We Did, What We'd Skip, and One Meal We Still Think About

We went to Lisbon expecting to like it. We came home having already started planning a second trip. That's the Lisbon effect.

It has this warm, unhurried quality that makes four days feel like just enough time to scratch the surface. The food is extraordinary, the wine is cheap and genuinely good, the trams are charming even when they're packed, and the city sits on its hills with a kind of easy confidence. It knows what it is.

Here's four days done properly.

Where to stay

Stay in Alfama or Mouraria if you want character and proximity to the old city. Príncipe Real or Chiado if you want better restaurants and slightly easier navigation. Avoid Baixa (the central tourist grid) — convenient but soulless.

Find hotels in Lisbon on Booking.com — filter by Alfama or Príncipe Real first.

Day one: Get lost in Alfama

Alfama is Lisbon's oldest district and it doesn't conform to a grid. That's the point. Put your phone away and just walk uphill. You'll end up at Miradouro da Graça or Miradouro da Senhora do Monte eventually — both have views across the city's terracotta rooftops that are genuinely hard to describe.

Ride Tram 28 at least once. It's slow and packed and you'll love it.

Evening: find a fado restaurant in Alfama. Not the tourist-facing ones on the main drag — ask your hotel or a local. Fado live is one of those experiences that doesn't translate to a description. Just go.

Day two: Belém

Take a tram or Uber west to Belém. Two things you have to see: the Jerónimos Monastery (stunning, free on Sunday mornings — worth timing your trip around) and the Torre de Belém on the riverbank.

After that, go to Pastéis de Belém — the original custard tart bakery, operating since 1837. The queue moves fast. The tart with cinnamon and sugar is one of the great simple food experiences in Europe. Non-negotiable.

Skip-the-line tickets for Jerónimos Monastery — saves serious time in summer.

Day three: Sintra

Forty minutes by train from Lisbon Rossio station. Go early — the crowds by 11am are significant.

Sintra is a UNESCO world heritage site in the hills above the coast, full of palaces that look like they were designed by someone in a very elaborate dream. The Pena Palace is the one everyone photographs — candy-coloured, perched on a hilltop, completely absurd and wonderful. The Moorish Castle above it has better views and far fewer people.

Have lunch in the town, then take a taxi down to Cabo da Roca — the westernmost point of continental Europe. Windswept and dramatic and somehow moving. Worth the detour.

Sintra day trip from Lisbon — useful if you'd rather not navigate the trains yourself.

Day four: eat everything you haven't eaten yet

Mercado da Ribeira (Time Out Market) is touristy but genuinely good — a food hall with proper restaurants from serious chefs. Lunch there. Then walk through Chiado and up into Bairro Alto.

Have a ginjinha in a tiny bar on Largo de São Domingos. It costs about €1.50, it's served in a tiny cup, and it's one of life's small perfect things.

That dinner we still think about: Taberna da Rua das Flores near Chiado. Small, seasonal, deeply Portuguese. Book ahead. It's worth whatever effort it takes to get a table.

What to drink

• Vinho Verde — young, slightly sparkling white. Cheap, cold, perfect with seafood.
• Alentejo reds — full-bodied and excellent with the heavier meat dishes.
• Ginjinha — cherry liqueur. €1.50 a shot. Do it.
• Super Bock — the beer. Decent, cold, everywhere.

Practical notes

• Getting around: The historic trams are fun but slow. Uber is cheap and works brilliantly. Metro for longer distances.
• Best time to go: May–June and September–October. July–August is hot and very busy. Lisbon in March can be lovely if you get a good week.
• Budget: Still good value by western European standards. Eat and drink well for €30–40 a day per person if you avoid the obvious tourist restaurants.
• Language: Portuguese, but English is widely spoken in Lisbon. "Obrigado" (men) or "Obrigada" (women) — thank you — will always get a smile.

Four days is enough to fall for it. It's not enough to see it properly. That's the problem with Lisbon.